


Adventuring Together

by Froggy1988



Series: Redemption Citadel [2]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:49:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27209173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Froggy1988/pseuds/Froggy1988
Summary: The sequel to Redemption Citadel. They've been through a lot, but Cassandra and Varian are ready to face a whole new series of adventures together.  A collection of One-Shots set between the final chapter and the epilogue of Redemption Citadel.
Relationships: Cassandra/Varian (Disney: Tangled), Edmund/OC, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel
Series: Redemption Citadel [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849981
Comments: 13
Kudos: 24





	Adventuring Together

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to Adventuring Together, a series of one-shots that take place between the end chapter of Redemption Citadel and the epilogue. The one-shots shouldn’t rely too heavily upon each other, and so far I have the ideas for eight of them. Plus I’m going to do a Cassarian advent calendar and I haven’t decided yet if that’s going to be based on Redemption Citadel – Let me know your opinions.   
>  This is a very short one.

Memories in the firelight.

Cassandra mopped the last of the stew up with a thick chunk of bread. Travelling with Varian had a whole range of pluses, one of them was his ability to cook. To Cassandra a stew was some meat and some root vegetables in a pot, but Varian gave it a whole new depth with fresh herbs that he picked whilst they were on the road.

“Being homesick is a good thing, it means you have a home.” Cassandra said. Commenting on Varian’s distracted monologue about the things he’d be doing if he was at home.

“I know, it’s just, I guess I didn’t know it would hit me so quickly. We left my Dad’s less than two weeks ago. I know that he said he was going to turn the farm land over to a young couple and keep the house, but I know that he’s got a lot of work to do before he’s ready to turn it over, and I’m just so worried that he’s going to over do it. He’s not a young man.”

  
“But he is strong Varian, and Eugene is going to be keeping an eye on him. When we get to a stopping point, and you get your first letters from him you’ll probably find that he’s already shut everything down and is settling into his role as the Kings adviser.”

Varian took a deep breath.

“You know, that was the role he was literally raised to do. My Grandfather was a knight and adviser to King Edmund’s father. I think he will be happy.”  
  


“Fulfilled.” Cassandra suggested.

“Yes.”

“And if you hadn’t decided to leave then perhaps he would never have made that move, and he would still be working on the farm well into his old age. It’s heavy work. “ She looked down at her plate, not wanting to see his expression, she thought she knew the answer, but she had to ask. “Do you regret coming?”  
  


“No!” Varian said sharply. “Not at all.”

She looked up at him now, and they shared a small smile.  
  


“Thanks Cassie, thanks for letting me see all this in a different way. I’ve been feeling guilty leaving him.”  


“He told me before we left that he’s been wanting you to step out into the world on your own for a while now. He just wants you to find your place in the world.”  
  


“I’m not on my own, I’m with you.”  
  


“I’ll follow where you lead. I’ve done my wandering. I’ve found what I needed to find, now it’s your turn.”  
  


“What did you find?”

“You.”

He gave a small smile, his skin taking on the orange glow of the fire between them, the light glinting off of his glasses. As she watched him the scene seemed to morph before her eyes. The fire seemed to get larger, Varian’s smile seemed to turn to a serious stare. She was hit by a sudden dread. There in front of her was no longer a small fire of wood but a wall of flames coming out of crumbled stones. And Varian, his face lit by the fire was pale, smudges of blood on his neck and cheek.

She let out a gasp. Her mind screaming, no, no, not again. Her chest growing tight. Even when she closed her eyes the loud crackling of the fire filled her ears. She could feel the warm smoke-filled air choking her. They had to get out, they had too, and yet somehow she was frozen to the spot, unable to move.

"Cassie?"

He was going to tell her he loved her, that’s what he had said before he had forced her to leave him.

"You've gone pale." A hand was on hers. She could feel the callouses and warmth, the tightness as the fingers wrapped round hers and it grounded her. It gave her the strength to open her eyes. She saw the concerned look mirrored in his blue eyes. Her gaze went to his neck, seeing the pales skin, just the thinnest of red marks. Her hand reached out and felt the unbroken flesh beneath.

"Are you getting ill? We're not too far away from the borders of Corona, I'm sure we can find an inn, a doctor." His voice was worried.

She shivered, taking a few breaths of clear air. There was no smoke, no more than from the small fire anyway. Her tense muscles began to relax. They were safe. She started to recite facts in her mind. They were two days south west of Vardaros. Varian had ride beside her all day. They were heading for the Southern coast. Varian was not injured. His hand was warm in hers. His cheek had the finest line of rough stubble. He was close enough that she could hear the steady in and out of his breathing. Slowly the terror was fading, there was no need to be scared, the danger had long past and they had both survived it.

"I'm fine Varian. Just... Just hold me tonight?"

"Every night Cass." He promised. 

He leaned forwards and kissed her on the temple.

"Let's get you warm. It's a chilly night.”

Varian reached into the pack behind him, retrieving a blanket. He sat on the log next to her, leaning close into her side as he draped the blanket around them both. Cassandra felt herself melting into him, the night was colder than it should have been for the time of year and shed not realised how much she needed his warmth until that moment. He took her hand and brought it to his lips before he gave it a little squeeze.

“What happened my love? It was as if you weren’t even here for a few moments.”

“For a few moments I wasn’t.”

Varian’s eyebrows furrowed and he gave a small nod. He didn’t ask her where she was. She didn’t know if it was because he guessed, or because he didn’t want to pry into something that could have been from her past. He’d always said that he accepted her just as she was, in that moment, and the past didn’t matter, only the future.

“Has it happened before?”  
  


“Not in a very long time.” Cassandra confessed.

She didn’t mention that she had spent months after the battle of Corona seeing the glimpse of a purple girl, hearing the whisper of a voice in the wind. This wasn’t the same.

“It’s the fire.” She said quietly, not sure if she wanted him to hear. His silence was not judgemental, he just pulled her closer.

“I’m here.” He whispered.

Cassandra rested her cheek on his shoulder. He was here, they were together, and that meant that in the end, everything would be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ll post this with every fiction I write for the next few weeks-   
>  I’d like to remind people to be polite, and respectful to each other’s opinions in the comments sections, and to TRY and keep it PG or at least in line with the tags of the fiction.  
>  I have awesome readers, I login into my inbox the morning after an update and I see familiar nicknames and It makes me smile. I have been truly blessed to find this fandom at this time, I know that some people have problems with antis but that luckily has never been my experience. My experience has been of supportive, loving, talented people, some of whom have helped me through some writers crisis over on discord (you guys know who you are and I hope you know the affection I hold for you within my heart). I have got to see some amazingly talented artists and discover new ways of sharing media.  
>  I do not exactly have a duty to act as a moderator on my comments sections, and I will never try to silence any bodies voices, all I can do is ask that you do be respectful. I write primarily for myself, because I love it, but when I upload it onto a site I do have a few duties – like to try my best to tag correctly so nobody is accidentally triggered by something that they hadn’t been previously warned about, and to try and be as honest as I can be (with my limited experience of the world) when tackling certain subjects, just for example, to either show sexual relationships as consensual, loving and respectful, or to show as ‘true’ a representation of when they’re not by showing some emotional effect on the character. I’ll always try to do that but sometimes I might miss the mark, because I’m human and it’s my right to make mistakes and to learn from them.  
>  I am truly honoured to have so many fantastic readers and other creatives commenting and interacting with my work.   
>  Stay safe and aim for happiness, all my love Froggy.


End file.
